Warner Music-owned Artist Arena, which runs fan sites for the likes of the teen idol, his gal-pal Selena Gomez and fellow entertainers Rihanna and Demi Lovato, agreed to pay a $1 million fine on Wednesday to settle federal charges that it unlawfully gathered personal information from thousands of children.

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The FTC's complaint, which did not single out the artists themselves for wrongdoing, had accused Artist Arena of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) by failing to obtain parental consent for those kids under the age of 13 who signed up for sites such as BieberFever.com, SelenaGomez.com and RihannaNow.com.

The settlement, which per the New York Times was announced Wednesday in New York, still requires a judge's approval.

As part of the agreement, the firm did not admit or deny guilt. But aside from paying the civil penalty, it agreed to delete all personal data it collected from the minors, display links to a federal website explaining children's privacy rules, and revamp its registration process.